11-04-2013, 02:28 AM
Sorry Richard. If you think exploiting geothermal resources on Big Island is going to lower electric bills for the "rubbah slippah" folks then I have a bridge you should probably buy. Just who is going to lower those rates? Helco? With the highest electric rates in the nation they just keep wanting more. Free energy to them does not necessarily mean lower rates for real people.
The current geothermal project pays subsidies to our county government and the past two Puna councilors have frittered that money away on pet projects like a paved road to freddie blas' house.
If you want free energy what about wind farms? Oh right, you don't like them because they spoil the view from your home in Hamakua. See the problem is that nobody wants a power generating plant in their backyard because all of them have some sort of downside so everyone likes to build ugly and potentially hazardous projects in poor neighborhoods.
As far as the GMO debate goes: creatures on this planet have co-evolved so that basically every living being is a potential food source for other living beings. Perfect recycling. Some genetic splicing is truly done for the betterment of the crop by enhancing disease resistance for instance. But unfortunately most research is backed by people who want to make a profit and some are extremely greedy. Lets say we could splice the gene that makes nicotine into other plants because that poison ewill repel and possibly kill preditors. Then lets say some greedy person splices it into lettuce so they can sell lettuce cigarettes to kids. Problem is that the industry is mostly unregulated and it would take years for government to respond. And what if some genius were to splice gluten protein manufacturing genes into corn and rice so you could make nice breads out of them. See any problem? Like maybe all the gluten intolerant people would have a problem with the food supply being contaminated with what for them is poison?
In the past I worked with a microbiologist who found out that someone had inserted a gene for manufacturing alcohol into a common soil-borne bacterium. Someone was looking for a cheap way to manufacture ethyl alcohol but she realized the implication of potential problems if (when) it escaped into the wild. See, most plants can't handle alcohol and there was real potential to decimate all plant life if this were to be released into the wild and fortunately she was able to convince the scientist to stop the project, because there was no government oversight to step in and stop something terrible from happening.
Aloha to you sir.
The current geothermal project pays subsidies to our county government and the past two Puna councilors have frittered that money away on pet projects like a paved road to freddie blas' house.
If you want free energy what about wind farms? Oh right, you don't like them because they spoil the view from your home in Hamakua. See the problem is that nobody wants a power generating plant in their backyard because all of them have some sort of downside so everyone likes to build ugly and potentially hazardous projects in poor neighborhoods.
As far as the GMO debate goes: creatures on this planet have co-evolved so that basically every living being is a potential food source for other living beings. Perfect recycling. Some genetic splicing is truly done for the betterment of the crop by enhancing disease resistance for instance. But unfortunately most research is backed by people who want to make a profit and some are extremely greedy. Lets say we could splice the gene that makes nicotine into other plants because that poison ewill repel and possibly kill preditors. Then lets say some greedy person splices it into lettuce so they can sell lettuce cigarettes to kids. Problem is that the industry is mostly unregulated and it would take years for government to respond. And what if some genius were to splice gluten protein manufacturing genes into corn and rice so you could make nice breads out of them. See any problem? Like maybe all the gluten intolerant people would have a problem with the food supply being contaminated with what for them is poison?
In the past I worked with a microbiologist who found out that someone had inserted a gene for manufacturing alcohol into a common soil-borne bacterium. Someone was looking for a cheap way to manufacture ethyl alcohol but she realized the implication of potential problems if (when) it escaped into the wild. See, most plants can't handle alcohol and there was real potential to decimate all plant life if this were to be released into the wild and fortunately she was able to convince the scientist to stop the project, because there was no government oversight to step in and stop something terrible from happening.
Aloha to you sir.